An Aussie swimmer took the Mary Poppins lyric ‘a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down’ literally at the Paris Olympics, drinking a soft drink to ward off infection from the filthy River Seine.
Moesha Johnson swam a brilliant race to claim silver behind open water legend, Dutchwoman Sharon van Rouwendaal at the Paris Olympics after water quality issues had cast a cloud over the event.
The marathon two-hour slog in the Seine was given the green light to proceed on Thursday, but not without controversy leading up to the event.
It came after Paris organisers scrapped Olympic open water swim training in the polluted Seine due to water quality issues.
That decision was the fifth time organisers scrapped training in the river since the start of the Games on July 28.
A statement from World Aquatics and the organising committee early said on Tuesday that one out of four readings for enterococci bacteria in the river – an indicator of the presence of faecal matter – was higher than the upper authorised limit.
It comes after the French Government spent €1.4 billion trying to clean sewerage out of the River Seine to make it clean enough to swim in prior to the Games.
Swimmers in Paris began to spread the word that a can of Coke would flush out unwanted bacteria, leading to many drinking the popular sugar-loaded soft drink before the race.
Aussie swimmer Moesha Johnson defied the water conditions in the River Seine to claim the silver medal in the open water swim in Paris
Training sessions were cancelled because of water quality issues which led swimmers to take precautions against possible infection – including drinking cans of Coke
Johnson congratulations gold medal winner Sharon van Rouwendaal of Team Netherlands
That included Johnson, although she claimed the water quality didn’t really bother her.
‘If Coca-Cola is listening, this is your cue. Yes, I’ve had a Coca-Cola, but I’ll go home and have some antibiotics as well,’ Johnson said.
‘I’ve tasted worse water, to be honest. It’s not about what the water looks like. I’ve swum in some really brown water and it’s been really good quality. It’s just about what the data shows us. It’s always going to be dramatic [in the media].’
While Johnson claims the water quality was a non issue, she did admit to having a very telling song lyric playing in her mind for the duration of the race.
‘I had this song stuck in my head the entire way,’ she said.
‘Particularly against the current because you’re just trying to stay calm.
‘Do you know the song Poison? That was running through my head.
‘That’s so ironic because of the water quality.’
It remains unclear whether she had the Alice Cooper, Bell Biv Devoe or short-lived Australian pop group Bardot’s version of Poison stuck in her head.
Did Johnson have the Alice Cooper version of Poison stuck in her head during the open water swim at the Paris Olympics
Or maybe she was internally humming along to the Aussie hit Poison by pop starlets Bardot
Meanwhile, it was Moesha’s name – not her swimming ability – that had some people puzzled on social media because they commonly associate it with African-American women.
‘A white woman named Moesha Johnson,’ one mused.
‘There’s a swimmer at the Olympics named Moesha Johnson, and I need to know the story behind her parents making that choice,’ posted another.
‘But, also, a white woman named Moesha Johnson?’ asked a third.
While the name Moesha did explode in popularity in the African American community at the turn of the 21st century, it turns out it is not explicitly tied to any race at all.
The name Moesha exploded in popularity in the African American community after the hit show starring Brandy that ran in the late 90s
While some historians believe the name Moesha could derive from the Hebrew Moses or the Swahili Maisha, the truth is the name does not have a traditional or widely recognised etymology.
In fact, the name is largely recognised to have come from the American television sitcom Moesha, which aired from 1996 to 2001 and starred the late Grammy Award-winning R&B singer and actor Brandy Norwood as the titular character.
It is likely a modern, invented name, possibly derived from or influenced by names like Moira, Monisha, or Keisha, which are of Irish, African, or African-American origin, respectively.
The sitcom Moesha played a significant role in bringing the name into mainstream culture, especially in African-American communities.
Moesha Mitchell, the character, was portrayed as a strong, intelligent, and independent young woman, which contributed to the name being associated with these qualities.
While the name Moesha saw a spike in usage during the late 1990s and early 2000s, largely because of the TV show, it remains relatively rare and is not commonly used today.